The most helpful favourable review

The most helpful critical review

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 starsNot like it used to be but still very funny
For those who aren't familiar, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is a comedy show described as the antidote to panel games'. Four comedians are given ridiculous tasks to perform like singing one song to the tune of another, or composing a letter by each panelist alternating one word at a time. Full of innuendo, puns, skits and witticisms, it's quite idiosyncratic, peculiarly...

3.0 out of 5 starsProbably not as good as it was - but still good!
The late, great Humphrey Littleton is sadly missed. Humph's outrageous doubles entendres provoked belly-laughs which are far fewer in this latest collection, though there are plenty of giggles and sniggers.

Many of the old favourites remain - the Uxbridge English Dictionary, One Song to the Tune of Another and Mornington Crescent are all there, along with a...

For those who aren't familiar, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is a comedy show described as the antidote to panel games'. Four comedians are given ridiculous tasks to perform like singing one song to the tune of another, or composing a letter by each panelist alternating one word at a time. Full of innuendo, puns, skits and witticisms, it's quite idiosyncratic, peculiarly English in a very Radio 4 kind of way, and extremely funny.

These two CDs contain four episodes from the 51st and 52nd series of programme, from 2009. These were recorded after Humphrey Lyttleton (who had chaired the show for decades) had died, and Jack Dee is chairing all four episodes on this compilation. Dee is an excellent choice to replace Humphrey - his deadpan grumpiness is well-suited to the role. Nonetheless, I must say that the show is not the same, and never will be again. It is still very funny and there are moments that are absolutely hilarious. Barry Cryer singing `Anarchy in the UK' to the tune of `Singing in the Rain' followed immediately by David Mitchell singing `Whiter Shade of Pale' to the tune of the theme from the Muppets in the fourth episode made for the funniest round of `One song to the tune of another' I have ever heard.

It's not quite like it used to be, but it's still very good indeed. If you're new to the show, earlier compilations containing older episodes are probably a better place to start. But if you're an existing fan who is after some new(ish) episodes, this compilation is definitely worth having.

Humphrey Littleton is rightfully described as an irreplaceable part of ISIHAC and it was difficult to see how the show could continue without him. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that it has, as witnessed by this first post-Humph collection, because ISIHAC continued, and in fact thrived, after the sad loss of Willie Rushton who also appeared essential to the show. There's good reason that there is a blue plaque to Willie Rushton at Mornington Crescent tube station.

Just as Willie Rushton was replaced by a series of guests who have made their different individual marks on the show (like the excellent singer Rob Brydon and the excellently bad singer Jeremy Hardy) so the chairman's role has now passed on to Jack Dee. Dee has an inbuilt advantage in the role, one of Humph's essential contributions was to be comically miserable, something Dee has done all through his career and so something he can pull off (thank you Samantha) naturally and without looking like a Humph imitator while keeping the essential balance of the humour. It works, so of all the Chairmen of ISIHAC in the series since Humph left us, it's not a surprise that Dee is now in charge.

So, the sad loss of Chairman Humph aside, how is the new ISIHAC? The great news is that it is still the funniest thing on radio by a mile. Samantha still helps with the points, Lionel Blair is still the king of Give Us A Clue and Mornington Crescent is still a baffling game with ever developing rules - but the show continues to defy the laws of show business by remaining totally fresh even after 30-odd years.

Having first been broadcast back in 1972, BBC Radio's longstanding comedy panel game 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue' has become somewhat of a British institution over the years. Originally hosted by Humphrey Lyttelton, after the great man's sad death, Stephen Fry, Rob Brydon and Jack Dee all took to the hosting seat - later to be taken up solely by Jack Dee.

Here we have four full episodes from 2009, taken from the 51st and 52nd series, and all hosted by Dee. The audibook consists of two CDs, with the episodes themselves split down into handy chapters, with their own individual titles making finding a particular sketch reasonably easy.

Because you've located this listing, it's probably quite safe to say that you're already reasonably familiar with what 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue' is all about. However, to be very brief, the show is very much in the same vein as the likes of 'Just A Minute', 'My Word!', 'My Music', 'Call My Bluff' or any other such comedy panel games where the real aim is to be humorous rather than 'winning'. In the shows, the host (Dee in this case) presents a variety of wacky and often silly games at the panel, often with very amusing results.

The panel across the four episodes on this 13th collection include the usual regular panellists - Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden, as well as the special guests Jeremy Hardy, Sandi Toksvig, Rob Brydon and David Michell.

Rob Brydon and David Michell in particular are very much on form throughout, with their quick wit and generally comical air very much suited to and projected across the various panel games.

With broken up sections throughout each episode and the individual panel games only lasting a few minutes apiece, the audiobook is therefore ideal for short stinted commutes if uploaded onto an iPod or the like. The quick sketches are perfect for listening to in these short bursts, with little recurring themes between each sketch.

It's a very British comedy series with a great deal of amusing elegance about it. At times the humour does veer a little towards the risqué, but never overly so. It's certainly by no means 'adult' comedy, but is likely to be appreciated a lot more by more mature listeners.

All in all, the collection is a wonderful snippet from the ever growing archive of this long-standing (and deservedly so) comedy series. Chuckle along with the ridiculous antics put forward to the fast-witted panel, with plenty of downright ingenious little comedy moments throughout.

No commercial radio channel would have allowed this programme to hit the airwaves. On the BBC it has enjoyed continued success since 1972, partly because of its silly but very funny verbal dexterity, partly because much of it is incomprehensible to the unaccustomed ear, and mostly because the more times one listens to it the funnier it becomes.

Humphrey Lyttleton was the original chairman, and we all missed him when he died in 2008. Several chairmen attempted to fill his shoes, but Jack Dee seems to have fit the bill very well, having a similar droll sense of contempt for the panellists and tender feel for the double entendre. The four episodes from 2009 on these two CDs of the 13th collection have the three regular panellists; Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer, and Graeme Garden - who first devised the show. Each episode features a guest panellist, in turn; Jeremy Hardy, Sandi Toksvig, Rob Brydon, and David Mitchell.

Those of you who know and love `I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue' will not need any further encouragement to listen to these episodes. For the uninitiated it can be something of an acquired taste, and it does require some mental agility to grasp all the puns and the buried humour. But once bitten it is hard to resist.

I listened to these on my ear-player on the bus and the tube. Someone laughing to themselves on public transport can quite often secure plenty of elbow room...

I'm only giving this set four stars because I feel that it is a little bit flat in some places, and perhaps the team has not yet fully settled in without Humph. Some of the episodes I have heard more recently on Radio 4 have been noticeably better than these four.

This is the first collection of episodes I've listened to that were recorded following the death of long-time ISIHAC chairman Humphrey Lyttelton. All the usual games are present, from Uxbridge English Dictionary, via Sound Charades, to Mornington crescent, as are the usual panellists and guest list.

Filling the chairman's chair for this compilation is comedian Jack Dee, whose on-screen/radio persona as a professional miserablist is a good fit for the role of reluctant participant.

However, despite Jack's best efforts to play the grumpy curmudgeon role, his knowing delivery lacks the plausible innocence that Humph somehow managed when delivering the risqué Lionel Blair and Samantha-the-Scorer gags that are as much a staple of this show as any of the daft games. Also, Jack's highly-developed comic timing telegraphs to the audience when the punchline is coming, whereas when Humph read the lines, he seemed to be caught as unaware of the joke as the rest of us.

Overall, this is still hilariously funny and the best we can expect now that Humph has joined the Heavenly trumpeters, but his loss is still felt - hence the 4-star review.

I'm sorry I haven't a clue- is a very old British radio comedy show although still a newbe cf the Archers. Those who know the format and love the show will be very happy with the content of this 4 programme 2CD compilation. For those who really havn't a clue about the programme here's how it works. There's the chairman Jack Dee, he starts each show poking fun about the geographical area in which the episode has been recorded. Having lived in Milton Keynes these type of jokes are water off a ducks back, but if you're considering buying this as a gift for a sensitive friend in say Portsmouth, Southampton, Isle of Wight, Bognor, Carlisle, London, Southark, Kennington, or Chichester you might like to consider some thing else. About Portsmouth Jack says: In 1928 when the theatre was built local property cost £750,.......... but you'd be lucky to get that much now.The programmes feature Tim Brooke Taylor, Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Sandi Toksvig, Rob Brydon, and David Mitchell, but don't buy the CD because you are a big fan of one of the contributors and like their comedy, as this show follows a set pattern each panellist taking part in a series of games given by the chairman. For example the Uxbridge dictionary where the panel give alternative definitions to words `Parental' -you never actually own the fruit, `gastronomy ` the study of Michelin Stars, `permit'- a glove made of cat fur, `tabby'- big church in Yorkshire. Musical interludes include the panellists singing a set of lyrics to a familiar tune but not the one commonly associated with the lyrics. Swanny Kazzoo where two panellists play a tune on a kazoo and a swanny whistle. In the game Mornington Crescent the teams state the name of various London underground tube stations the winner being the team who say Mornington Crescent. (Don't ask about the rules for this one!) There is Mrs Trellis from North Wales- who writes in every week with a slight daft question. The style of comedy is often school boy with subtle and some times less subtle innuendo. The jokes are clever more likely to provoke a smile rather than leading to uncontrollable belly laughing, it possibly the marmite of radio comedy. If this were an mp3 download Amazon would provide a sample to listen perhaps that is possible for CDs also? The running time 2 hours 35mins.

I'm sorry I haven't a Clue, the brilliant antidote to panel games, chaired so brilliantly for years by the much missed and loved Humphrey Littleton (Humph).

I must admit that I haven't listed to this in recent years and haven't heard any of it since Humph passed away, so I really wasn't sure how good it would be.

I'm pleased to say it's as funny as ever. It still has many of the very funny panelists of recent years contributing brilliant improvised comedy and the (currently temporary) chair of this compilation is Jack Dee who does a fantastic job with his dry and funny delivery and opens each episode with fantastic introductions.

I had forgotten how funny these radio panel games were . The lightening wit brought back memories of Around The Horne and other radio classics of years gone by . More laughs per minute than anything I have heard or seen in years.Quick , clever comedy at its very best from a team of experienced raconteurs . Each episode more risque and a bit longer than the radio broadcasts which can only be good news for fans and newcomers alike .Worth the purchase price if only for Jack Dee's woebegone introductions and adjudications . This gang should be on the National Health as a cure for depression or whatever else ails you .

If you've ever attended a recording of "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" (hereafter "Clue") you will know that the recordings are 45-50 minutes long, and that not all of the material gets into the 29-minute broadcasts. Some of this omitted material is extremely funny, and it's nice to see the BBC distributing Clue as it was recorded as well as the stage shows (I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue: Live on Stage [DVD]). This disc contains material which hasn't been broadcast, but it isn't the complete show - rather each of the four 'episodes' is a compilation of the two shows at that venue. The venues involved are Southampton (guest: Jeremy Hardy, broadcast Jule/July 2009), Carlisle (Sandi Toksvig, July 2009), Old VIc (Rob Brydon, November 2009) and Chichester (David Mitchell, Nov/Dec 2009).

The material from the regulars and guests just gets funnier over the years, and Ian Pattinson's scripts for Jack Dee are excellent. I think Jack tries too hard to emulate Humph, but his parodies of other BBC shows are wonderful. Rounds include 'Uxbridge English Dictionary', 'Charades' and the 'Film Club' rounds are among the funniest I've heard. Of course, if you don't know the rules to Mornington Crescent, you won't have a clue what I'm talking about, but this is an excellent disc to have

I must admit i haven't listened to the show since Humphs demise thinking the show would never be the same again with another presenter and how right i was. But the good news is that Jack Dee has made it his own without losing any of the characteristic humour we've come to expect from the show. Yes, at times the show slips into slightly cheap humour and sounds more scripted than the 'spontaneous' replies it used to have yet it still appeals. Warning, don't listen to the cd whilst driving you may crash due to uncontrollable laughter, it's that funny. Well worth the price, long live Jack Dee!